Erased
by Ejes
Summary: Erasers are people charged to make people disappear, to suppress them from others' memory. When Gin openend his eyes and met an older Shinpachi, he knew troubles were waiting for him. "Kagura? Am I supposed to know her?" His whole world collapsed. Yet, it looks like someone else remembers the tiny violent Amanto...
1. Chapter 1

**Hi~ My second Gintama fanfic ! I hope you will like it!**

**It happens in the 5 years later world, so more or less the second movie world, but there shouldn't be any spoiler so it's okay even if you haven't seen it. You'll only don't know how they looks like!**

**Please enjoy~**

**I don't own Gintama!**

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This morning, when Gin opened his eyes, he had an horrible headache and felt sick. He couldn't remember well what happened last night: he probably drank all night long and came home drunk. The pain stopped him from thinking clearly, so, with a furred tongue, he called as loud as he could.

"Kagura-chaaan? Could you bring me some aspirin please? A whole box should be enough!"

No answer. Maybe she didn't hear him? He asked a bit louder. Still no answer. Gin got up, muttering several insults towards the little girl. Then, he suddenly remembered. The day before, if he went out drinking, it was because he had an argument with her. For stupid matter, really, he just asked her if she could be a little bit more original when cooking, because he was getting sick of rice with an egg on top of it. She should have had a bad day, since she got angry as soon as he ended his question.

_If you're not fine with my cooking, how about you going to eat somewhere else? I'm doing all my possible, you should be grateful for that!_

Gin hadn't wanted to start a fight, but he just couldn't eat this meal anymore, so he had left the apartment only to come back early on the morning of the next day.

Was she still mad at him? Gin sighed. He surely didn't need a kid on her teenage phase. To be grateful? Was she kidding? She should be the one to be grateful, he offered her a home, he fed her, and he even skipped a lot of meals when money was missing to make sure she had something to eat!

-Oi, Kagura. Sorry for yesterday.

He didn't really felt sorry, but he wanted their argument to stop. She didn't answer.

-Kagura? Oi! Listen, I'm going to open your door. So if you're, I don't know, getting dressed or whatever, tell me _right now_.

Silence. With another sigh, Gin opened the door of the closet she was using as a room. He closed it straightaway. Pinched his arm. Rubbed his eyes. Slapped his cheek. Then opened again.

Where he expected to see a futon on the shelf, with a red head coming out the cover, he saw JUMPS. No futon. No red head. Just piles and piles of JUMPs. This scene was weird, yet he somehow felt like it was natural. Like he saw it several times before.

What was really weird was that he took his magazines to be recycled every month. And he was sure he threw them away two days day ago. And, even if he didn't, there should have been four magazines maximum. In front of him was gathered a full year of JUMPs.

Puzzled, he just couldn't figure how this all might have… Then he thought of something. The kid left (ran away? Or just took Sadaharu, missing to, on a walk?) and did all of this to send him a "your magazines matter more to you than me!" kind of message. This theory was plausible, but… how did she get all those magazines? She couldn't have been preparing this for a whole year, without him noticing!

Gin didn't like to think too deeply. This story was getting more and more complicated, he just had to wait her back to ask her to explain herself. And he would wait reading all those old JUMPs.

He took one of them on the top of one pile. Hi didn't recognize many of the characters on the front page – so many new series starting in the same time?

What was _really really_ strange was when he tried to read one of those new stories. The chapter had a number, but it was… number 183?! How could Gin miss this story for three years? Truly disturbed, he threw the JUMP far from him. His headache was gone, but he was feeling another one starting in the back of his head.

Shinpachi's voice lifted his spirit. He just heard the boy's voice from the other side of the door, maybe he could explain that fake JUMP thing.

"Shinpachi!" Called Gin even before seeing the boy. "Have you met Kagura and Sadaharu on your way? That brat imagined a bad prank to me and I'm going to make her regret every single act she did!"

But, as soon as he saw Shinpachi, he became the one to regret.

Because the man standing in front of him was Shinpachi and yet was not. Glasses didn't change. Hair was as dark as usual.

But that hair grew. Not much, but his haircut hid his face more than his usual kid haircut. His glare had hardened. Not much either, he still looked dumb, but Gin could see that this boy – this _man_ was not the one he knew. Even his muscle structure developed, his kendo outfit fitted him perfectly, and he had a sword tied to his belt.

Oh, of course, Gin knew this man that looked as old as him. He met him before, fought together with him before. But all of this happened in the future. Five years in the future.

Shinpachi didn't notice his look and answered him, surprised.

"Kagura? Sadaharu? Well, I might have seen them, but…"

"But what?!"

Gin was on defensive mode. He didn't like how things were turning. Well, at least, he was still alive, but that didn't mean something bad wasn't happening.

-But I cannot tell you, since I don't know what they look like! New customers you just met?

Gin stared at Shinpachi, silent, for a moment, looking at him with his deadpan look. Shinpachi was beginning to be embarrassed. Looked like the Shinpachi of this time still disliked to be the center of attention.

"Kidding me, right?"

"Should I be kidding? Former customers I don't remember?"

"I'm talking about Kagura. The noisy brat living here, in this closet. The one who makes fun of you every single time. I'm talking about Sadaharu. The biggest dog ever, a monster as tall as you, with weird eyebrows, eating whatever he finds."

Shinpachi flinched his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, Gin-san, but I don't have the tiniest hint of who you're talking about. No kid lived here, of her free will or even without. And about the dog… I didn't even know you gave it a name. I mean, sure, one day, someone took a strange dog looking as you described it at our door, but you decided you didn't need it and after three days staying outside, he left for a weird shrine. Gin-san, are you daydreaming?"

Gin sat on the sofa, trembling. Nonsense. All of this was just nonsense. He couldn't have imagined Kagura, she wasn't born from his mind. He remembered her getting mad the day before. He remembered her smile when he bought her the familial pack of Sukonbu the day even before. He remembered the tears she had shed when Sadaharu cut his paw and bleed quite a lot, the month before. He couldn't have imagined all of that.

"Hijikata-san, good to see you! Gin-san doesn't look like he feels well… If you had a job to give him to keep him busy, that would be wonderful.

Gin rose his head. Hijikata also changed into what he remembered from the future. A long black coat, messy hair, stupid look. The last part had remained from his past self, though, thought Gin. _So no Shinsengumi uniform? In this future too it have been disbanded?_

"Well, that's obviously because she spends her time with…"

Hijikata stopped talking, cogitating. Shinpachi looked at him with a wondering look.

"She? Who is _she_?"

Hijikata took his hands to his head, massaging his temples.

"I… I don't know. For a moment I felt like… No, forget it. And I don't know why you should know this better than me, but it's better to ask! And please, since the Shinsengumi is over, he's not one of my men anymore, but a lonesome assassin working for whoever pays, don't pretend not to know."

Gin clenched his fists. He was still hoping this was some kind of lame joke. Hijikata obviously almost remembered something important – _someone_ important.

Then, a phone rang. Gin realized it was his.

_Got a mobile now? Wow, so I managed in my life to earn money without spending it all at the Pachinko._

Seeing the name written on the screen, he frowned. The voice on the other side was familiar.

-Danna, I think we're in trouble.

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**Troubles ? What kind of troubles is that person talking about? Find it out in the next Chapter of "Erased"! Follow this story if you want to know when the next chapter is out ! (there will be 5 chapters)**


	2. Chapter 2

_Here's the second chapter ! I remind you that I'm not English so my sentences might sound weird (I'm French, that's why you can find most of my fics both in English and in French^^). Hope it will be easy to understand though._

_But I should stop chatting. Enjoy!_

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When he opened his eyes, Sougo had an horrible headache and felt sick. He wondered for a few minutes if he was pregnant… Then he remembered it was impossible: he made sure to protect himself last time he went to Yoshiwara. It was probably just because the day before, while he was chasing after a crying Hijikata in every single room, dressed as a bloody vengeful spirit, a badminton racket smacked into his lower abdomen.

"Captain Okita! I know your great pleasure in life is to frighten the Vice-Commander, but please do it at an appropriate time, _not in the middle of the night_!"

Knocked out by Zaki's hit, Okita crawled to his room to fall asleep.

But weird things started to begin. When he opened his eyes, despite his headache, he knew there was a problem. First, he wasn't wearing his ghost costume anymore; he never took it off, he was sure of that. Then, he wasn't even in his room. He was in a bedroom, indeed, but definitely not the one in the Shinsengumi mansion. Still, it felt like this room was familiar to him. He could see an altar with his sister picture on it.

And, finally…

"When exactly did my hair…?"

His hair had grown down to his back. And he never, _ever_ heard of hair growing that fast (well, he did, but only when the Yorozuya were involved and doing stupid stuff).

Groggy, he got up and stumbled to reach clothes laying down on the floor. Were those his? He supposed so and got dressed. A bright red gi, a grey hakama. He liked this set of colors. He didn't get everything, but he was thinking it could be the kind of clothes he could wear.

He tied his hair into a high ponytail and started to have a look around. He didn't really know why, but the first thing he did was to light some incense on the altar. He prayed for his sister then went back to his exploration. There was a wardrobe. He opened it: clothes carefully folded, and his Shinsengumi uniform, which looked like he didn't wear it for ages.

On the left of the wardrobe was a full-height mirror. He grew older, that was obvious. The room was quite empty, but a flower bouquet in a vase on a chest of drawers. He raised an eyebrow: he wasn't exactly the type of guy to buy _flowers_. He was surprised not to see any stuffed animal or anything gloomy.

He left the bedroom for the kitchen. It was quite a classic room, nothing peculiar but _two_ rice cookers, one of them being abnormally huge. He shrugged, there was no time for such details.

The living-room was way more interesting, because it was messier. Newspaper were covering the floor (he checked the date : to see that he made a 5 year time leap didn't shock him much, as he almost figured it out by himself) and there were several books on the table. What surprised him was that it wasn't his type of lecture: a bunch of shoujo manga.

He then noticed the huge dresser against the wall and had a nostalgic smile: it came from his home, from when he lived with his sister, he was sure of it. He opened the drawers one by one: it was full of random stuff. Scissors, bullets, keys, change, trump, batteries, and then a tiny object, sized like a coin. Sougo took it and examined it, shocked. How this kind of thing could possibly have arrived there?

He went on exploring the dresser when, suddenly, he noticed a picture in a frame, hidden by another bouquet. It had been taken in a purikura (note: Japanese photo booth where you can personalize your pictures) and two persons were on the picture. One of them was actually him, looking with a fake annoyed look at the other person while doing her bunny ears. The other person was poking his cheek with an amused face. A heart had been drawn on the lower part of the pic. Sougo blinked a few times, believing he was still dreaming. Because that girl on the picture was no other than…

"China?!"

He slowly put the frame back. He couldn't deny it anymore: the heart, the look they exchanged, the umbrella against the wall next to the door, the rice cookers, the two toothbrush in the bathroom, the brush with both sandy and red hair…

He was quite in shock. He never thought of her as a women, not even as a girl. She was more like a rival to him, someone he could non-stop fighting, all-day long. He never thought of her in any other way.

He noticed that, on the table, a light on his phone was blinking. He feverishly pressed a button to unlock it and saw he had a vocal message. Sent by: China. He smiled. At least some things remained, such as this nickname. He listened to the message.

"Sougo? It's me."

She paused. Sougo understood right away that something was wrong. She was speaking with a very small voice, as if she was frightened, and he was sure he heard a sob. He unintentionally clenched his fists.

"I think they found me. The erasers. I had to leave as soon as possible, sorry about that… Don't do anything silly. They might spare you : I mean, they probably don't know our connection… f you can hear this message, it means you can remember me. Sougo, I… I don't want to be erased. But since I've got no other option, please promise me something: don't get caught. I beg of you. If you need anything, just go to see Gin-chan. He'll know what to do. He always does."

She stopped abruptly and suddenly added:

"They're coming. I have to go. Make sure to stay alive long enough so I can meet with you again!"

The message stopped here. He noticed his hand was bleeding: he clenched his fists that strong that his nails cut through his flesh. Maybe she was no more than a rival to him, but he couldn't accept what was going on. To ask Danna if he had any problem? Well, he had one, he had one hell of a problem. Checking his phone book on the mobile, he found the right phone number. He didn't have to wait long before being answered.

"Danna, I think we're in trouble."

Gin stayed quiet for a while before talking.

"You don't say, Souichirou-kun. I don't know what's going on, but I'm sure I'm having a worse day than you."

"Really? Worse than a 5 year time leap?"

Gin stopped talking once more.

"Okita-kun, I think it's about time we meet. I'm with Pattsuan and Hijikata-kun, they will be glad to answer a few questions… But first: If I'm telling you "Kagura", what comes through your mind?"

"A stupid, spoiled Chinese girl having big troubles?"

"Okita-kun, let's meet NOW. In five minutes, at the pastry shop at the corner of the theatre."

Sougo grabbed his sword, put it through his belt and hung up. He opened the door and rushed towards the meeting place.

Gin was here, eating his traditional parfait. He didn't change at all. Same deadpan look, same perm hair, even his clothes remained the same, not to mention the parfait. Sitting next to him, Shinpachi was throwing nervous looks all over the place. He looked like a bodyguard. Facing them, eating a something-with-too-many-mayonnaise-on-top-of-it, Hijikata had barely changed. When he saw Sougo, he moved to leave him a seat.

"Sougo! I was looking for you, we would need you to get us rid of…"

"Danna," interrupted Sougo, "What the hell is going on?"

Gin looked at him, a look full of distress and worry.

"They all forgot Kagura. I think you also came from this past where you fought with her two days ago because you stole her dangos?"

Sougo silently nodded.

"Question is, why is it only the two of us? Is there anyone else who can remember? Did you learn anything?"

"Learnt a few things I would have rather ignore… China called me yesterday, got the message when I woke up. She was scared, saying she was about to get caught. Hijikata-san, what exactly is an _eraser_?"

The shop turned into a deep silence. Some people stared at them. Hijikata gave them a cold glare and whispered.

"Have you lost it or something? Did you really need to evoke this here and now? Let's go somewhere less… Crowded. Oi, we're going back to your office. I paid your parfait, so you don't have any right to refuse."

They left the pastry shop. Shinpachi and Hijikata were walking ahead of them, so Gin resumed what happened to him. When he asked Sougo to do the same, the latter talked in a low voice.

"She told me no one should know… But she also told me you were trustworthy. Furthermore, your memories fit mines, so things are a bit easier… I don't know how on Earth this could have possibly happened, but it looks like in this world, she and I are… dating."

"Beg your pardon?"

"Yeah, I would probably not believe it myself if she hadn't called me by my first name through the phone, there are many proofs in my apartment that she happened to live here some days, not to mention the picture of the two of us with a heart on it."

"Now that you mention it… I didn't see any picture of her, anywhere. On my desk, I have a picture of Shinpachi, Kagura and me taken around a month after we became a trio. I don't think I would ever remove that picture, but to put another more recent. But there was nothing. It's like she never lived behind that roof. Why is your place intact?"

"She told me nobody knew for us. That could be the reason, maybe? There was no bound found between her and me, so they didn't 'clean' my place."

Gin slowly nodded. It was getting more and more complicated. Who sent them in the future? Was that Kagura's last action before disappearing? When he enter his home, he knew his headache would last.

"Erasers, uh? Nobody really likes to talk 'bout them. Even I have Goosebumps when I think of them."

They were seating on the two sofas, time-travelers on one, people of this world on the other one.

"What I understood", started Sougo "is that they are people in charge of making someone disappear, by taking anything linked to that person. Am I right?"

Hijikata smiled.

"Not bad. You're pretty close. Since the Amanto did their coup d'état and imprisoned the Shogun, Shinsengumi has been disbanded. Basically, we couldn't bear those orders becoming more and more unfair, like arresting people for treason because they sold bread or whatever to a Joui guy. And now it looks like we're also Joui activists, in a way… They then created two police force who are their puppets. The first one is charged to take care of minor crimes such as robbery or stuff like that. But the second one…"

He shivered.

"People call them the erasers. Actually, only a few people witnessed their existence, or at least, only a few of them are still able to talk about them. All we know are just rumors, but… In short, erasers are Amanto who make people disappear. Not to kill them, no, to _erase_ them. Every single memory of this person vanishes from everyone's memory. Anything linked to him, pictures, drawings, even hair fallen on the floor, everything vanishes, just as if this person never existed. Of course, they don't act too often. They're in charge of finding the terrorists that tried something against the government. They're taking care of the rebellion leaders, not of hoodlums."

"If they erase every memory, how were those rumors born?"

"Sometimes, someone remembers. Some of them have never been affected, their belongings weren't gone. And some other, just by seeing some objects, remember. Just like this, they remember, because they saw a similar coat, a kid looking like him, even a movie they watched together."

Gin was really pale, his fists clenched.

"Stop fooling around! Terrorist leaders? Kagura was maybe a kid who had an opinion on every single thing, but she would never have become a terrorist! Whatever she did, she would never deserve that! What about you, Shinpachi? How could you forget her? We were spending all our time together? What kind of a monster have you become to forget her? What are they doing of people they erase?"

Shinpachi hunched his shoulders. Gin was furious, but Shinpachi couldn't feel guilty. How could he? He didn't remembered that Kagura. He didn't have a single memory, whether it was a good or a bad one, of her. How could you miss a stranger?

"Gin-san, please calm down. Yelling at me won't change anything, but being that noisy can put us all in danger. And about your last question… Nobody knows what they do of people they erase. Are they going back in time to kill them? Do they kill them in this present, before using extraterrestrial abilities to brainwash everyone? Are they keeping prisoners somewhere? Nobody knows."

"Hijikata-san, I know how dangerous it might be. But, in memory of our old Shinsengumi principles, would you accept to help us discovering what is really going on?"

Hijikata barely thought about this.

"I don't have any family anymore. So, even if knowing that my comrades makes me mad, I don't have much to lose. Of course I'll lend a hand."

"Zaki might be useful as well. He's good at shadowing people. Having him with us would be a great advantage."

Silence. Then:

"Zaki?"

This time, Sougo was the one to clench his fists, ready to hit Hijikata.

"Yamazaki. Yamazaki Sagaru. One the most faithful and trustworthy man working for the Shinsengumi."

Hijikata slowly moved his head from right to left.

"I… I don't know him."

Sougo grinded his teeth before grabbing Hijikata by the collar.

"Some people remember thanks to objects, right? Believe me, I'm going to harass you, to show you every single object on Earth until you remember him. What kind of Vice-Captain can forget his own men?"

Hijikata squinted. The name of Yamazaki did evoke something to him… To know he may have forgotten one of his men made him sick.

"Danna, I suggest we try to gather as much information as we can. Hijikata works for the Joui, they might know something. And Glasses's sister knows a lot of things due to her hostess job, that could help. Maybe there is someone over there remembering China. Let's meet here tomorrow morning."

Gin nodded, and they split up.

All night long, Gin questioned people in the street, the hostesses in the bars. Otae didn't remember Kagura, but some hostesses, some inhabitants remembered a young lady with a huge dog, even though Gin noticed it was only people who never had any true contact with her, as Sougo and Gin thought: if one wouldn't notice the erased disappearance, then that person would be spared.

Sougo was taking Hijikata in a sport equipment shop. Seeing the badminton rackets gave him a headache, but nothing really came to his mind.

Sougo was about to give up. He was telling every memory he had about Zaki, and, as he went on talking, he realized Zaki was a friend to him, and he couldn't accept to be the only one remembering him. He gave a last try. It was his last chance to return Hijikata to senses.

"And so… Why this shitty pastry shop?"

"It was his favorite place in all Edo. Half of his wage was spent here every month."

Hijikata looked at the shop, but he couldn't remember anything. He probably never came here before. Suddenly, while he was looking at the pastries in the window display, everything came back. Memories didn't came back one by one, but all in the same time. Zaki, how good he was to take his badminton racket instead of his sword in the middle of a fight, his creepy passion for Anpan… Because it was the sight of those little breads, filled with red bean paste, which revived his memories. He stumbled for a few seconds, and Sougo came to help him standing up. For at least two minutes, memories flew to his mind, breathtakingly. More than ten years of memories coming back to their place.

Once he could think clearly again, Hijikata hit the wall with all his strength, in front of the scared clerk.

"Fuck! How could I forget him?! How could I ACCEPT to forget him?! Sougo?"

"Hijikata-san?"

"Let's find those bastards and beat the hell out of them."

None of them talked about the tears running down his cheeks. It was like meeting a friend you thought dead. They bought an Anpan and promised they would offer it to Zaki the minute they found him. They left the shop, an evil aura surrounding them. Foes were going to pay for that.

They spent the night seeking information from the Joui, from informants, about the erasers.

When the sun rose, four tired faces, yet with a willful look, were facing each other on those sofa they left 24 hours ago.

They gathered their information. Gin and Shinpachi confirming why some people juste didn't have their memories erased, Sougo and Hijikata telling how to bring someone's memories back. They also learnt how to recognize an eraser. Witnesses were rare, but they all saw the same thing: human beings, or at least human-looking beings, wearing a long grey cloak. Furthermore, they only kidnapped their victims by surprise, to make them passing out, more or less abruptly, but did nothing else than taking him/her away. They weren't coming back to the victim's home. Yet, the next day, people had forgotten.

"If they knock them out instead of killing them," commented Sougo "then there's a great possibility they're keeping them captive somewhere. But where?"

While they were all silent, deep in thoughts, a sparkle of hope in the eyes, Sougo's phone rang. His heart missed a beat: _China_.

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_Is Kagura's fine ? You'll find out next week! Updating every monday 3_


	3. Chapter 3

_In this Chapter, Kagura will make her first appearance... Thank you so much for your reviews, I love you all 3_

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"Are you fucking going to answer that call?"

Gin's order brought him back on earth. He turned the speakers on and answered.

"_Sougo? Please, Sougo?"_

"China?"

She sounded less frightened. But that made things even worse; she sounded like someone in a state of deep shock. Like someone who witnessed horrible things.

"I… Please. I know that's stupid, but I think the thing I need the most to hear now is you callin me by my name."

"Gura, what's going on? Where are you?"

That nickname came instinctively. He wondered where it came from.

Next to him, Shinpachi was shivering. Maybe it was more accurate to say he was violently shaking. Hijikata exchanged a look with Sougo and whispered '_He's remembering'_.

"I have no idea of where I am. I think I never came here before… It's a wasteland and I can't see the town. Nowhere. All I can see is that big building I was locked in, and…"

"There, there. It's all right, Gura. Just listen to my voice. It's all right. What does the building look like?"

"It's huge. Three floors, and so many windows I just cannot count them all… But they're all blocked. It's just so dark in there, so dark… Everything smelled musty. Everything was covered with dust.

Hijikata had taken his phone and was writing a mail at high speed, giving the description to every Joui's man to know if they knew that place. Sougo spoke again with his calming tone. Words came to him naturally, it was like somebody else was talking through him. It was puzzling, but she seemed to relax a little bit.

"Okay. How did you get out? Are you far from that building?"

'They wanted to change my chains… And I knocked them out as soon as I've been free. A dozen of guards tried to attack me, but…"

She had a nervous giggle.

"You know how an angry Yato looks. I took advantage of the confusion to escape. I thought I would never make it without my umbrella. I ran for a very long time. I found a kind of hole in the ground and I hid there.

Her voice was weakening, it was more of a whisper now.

"Gura? Did they hurt you? Gura? Kagura?!"

She didn't answer back. They all heard her difficult breathing, as if she struggled to breath.

"I've got an answer. An hour from this by car, there's an old hospital, once Edo's biggest hospital. It has been closed ten years ago because… They realized the hospital was torturing some of their patients. Recently, government's officials have been seen going in and out of the building."

"Let's hurry, then!" shouted Shinpachi, who couldn't believe he forgot such a precious friend. Kagura was like a little sister to him.

"An hour? Don't have time for this. Pattsuan, remember the shitty shrine you told me about yesterday? Could you take us there?"

Their courage was back. She was alive. Really alive. And so should be Zaki. They were going to save everyone.

They hurried to the shrine. Sitting in front of the entrance, tongue out, tail moving, Sadaharu was waiting for them. Gin obviously didn't abandon him three days after meeting him, unlike in Shinpachi's corrupted memories, but he knew this shrine was the place he should go to.

He barked and dashed toward them. Gin buried his hands in the white fur and let the animal licking his face with joy. He gave a really happy look to Shinpachi.

"Dogs are faithful beings. He would never forget his mistress. To the hospital, everyone!"

Even if they were suspicious about that transport, Sougo and Hijikata climbed the giant dog, behind Shinpachi and Gin. Shinpachi knew better his way, since things had changed in five years, to he was the one to lead Sadaharu.

Gin and Hijikata, feeling better, decided to tease Sougo.

"Say, Souichirou-kun? You look close to my little Kagura, don't you?"

"It's Sougo. And I'm quite sure I already told you the me from this time is going out with her. But he is not me. As soon as we get back to our time, I'm changing the future to avoid being with this monkey!"

"Say, Sougo? I don't remember her, that's true, but I always thought you were not the kind of guy going out with someone! I never heard you calling someone by his/her name before. And you were so touching~"

"Souichirou-kun, are you aware you should get her father's approval? But he's probably going to kill you as soon as he'll understand, though."

"It's Sougo. And don't you worry, I don't intend to marry her, ever."

"Gin-san, everyone! We're almost there!"

Sadaharu was exhausted after running full speed nonstop for more than thirty minutes. The three men stopped joking, and their look became deadly serious. It wasn't time to fool around anymore. They stopped quite far away and had a look at the building facing them. Cracked, surrounded by barbed wire, that place was gloomy and looked more like a prison than like a hospital. How many people were trapped in there?

Then, Sadaharu seemed to have smelled something. Nose on the ground, his steps were taking him to a massive and old tree. He gently barked and whined. They came closer until they saw Kagura, a long-haired Kagura, with an adult body, and deeply wounded. It looked like she had been shot several times, in the shoulder, in the stomach. Her eyes were fluttering. Gin and Sougo stared at each other, unable to move, when Gin smiled.

"You're the one she's waiting for. Go. Whether you like her or not is not my problem; if you hurt her I kill you."

Sougo rushed. She was looking at him, smiling.

"Sou…go. You didn't… forget me."

He had to play his role, he couldn't abandon her. She was looking at him exactly the same way his sister looked at him on her deathbed. He refused to lose someone precious to him once again, even if she was precious to his future self.

"Hey. How could I forget you, uh? Your annoying voice just keeps echoing in my head all the time."

"Maybe… If your head wasn't that empty… It wouldn't echoe?"

She tried to laugh, but her laughter turned into violent coughing, spitting blood. Sougo moved carefully her so that she could be leaning on him; he was holding her hand.

"Sougo… I'm happy… I met you."

Her eyes were staying closed a little bit longer every time she blinked.

"Oh, be sure you'll be honored of my existence for years and years. Don't tell me you fought that much to escape only to die here? Hang on. Listen to my voice, focus on it. I won't let you down, so please, don't leave me alone."

"It's… Okay. I am a Yato. I'm… healing… quickly. I'm not leaving you alone. Stay with me, Sougo… Because I don't want to let you go.

She leaned her head on the crook of his neck. He barely noticed he had started to rock her, humming. He held her tight, his arm around her waist.

"Sougo-kun?"

He raised his eyes to Gin. He, Shinpachi and Hijikata had drawn their swords. They were all looking the same direction.

"Stay there. Protect her. If anything happens to her…"

Sougo drew his sword, still holding Kagura with his other hand.

"They won't lay a finger on her. I promise."

Happy with that answer, Gin nodded and glared at the men, ten meters further. They were all wearing a grey cloak, they all shared that cold look. One of them spoke.

"Prisoner found. Take her back, get rid of the others."

Shinpachi charged.

* * *

_Sequel next week ! You will find a useful Shinpachi (well, not too useless at least xD ), another missing one, and find out how erasers really work !_


	4. Chapter 4

_Here it is, chapter 4! My hard disk was too hot and passed away Y_Y But I managed to save all my datas first \o/ Luckily, because all my fanfictions were on it~_

_Enjoy!_

_In this Chapter, another someone is going to appear! Who might that be?_

* * *

He didn't even gave a thought upon that. Kagura was someone dear to him, and, because of those men, his memories had been corrupted so that she would no longer belong to them. By killing them, he wanted to expiate his culpability. Some of the memories changed were coming back to his mind, making him sick. He _thought_ remembering Gin leaving Sadaharu behind. Ie _thought_ remembering all those lunches at the Yorozuya, where they both fought to have the last piece of meat. Just the two of them. All that time, something was missing in his memories, in his life, and those men in grey were the guilty ones. So he charged.

The men were around ten. They were three, Sougo being out. But what a trio! Gin was one of the few survivors of the Joui war. His nickname, Shiroyasha, was still feared and respected nowadays, and he deserved it. He was boiling with rage since he had seen Kagura's condition and did look like a demon.

Hijikata was the former Demon Vice-Commander. He was throwing deadly glances and his aura wasn't predicting anything good for the enemies. He didn't intend to leave any survivor.

And he, Shinpachi, had become a sword master. Far from his former weak self, he had sworn he would become strong enough to protect, not to be protected – he was now one of the best swordsman of the country. And, as sad as it might sound, he wasn't afraid of killing anymore, and didn't hesitate to take lives in a fight.

The foe was strong. When he attacked, his hit was blocked straight away. Up, up, down, down again. On the left, feinted to the right, another try on the left. The enemy looked like he had a flawless defense. Then, Shinpachi saw it. When the eraser was moving to block the attacks, there was an opening on his right hip. He faked, attacked on the right. Hit. The blade cut the flesh deeply. The enemy staggered, and Shinpachi took advantage of that to raise his sword and to slice the eraser, who fell, dead.

Hijikata and Gin were also showing their true power, and how superior they were to Shinpachi. They both already had killed two guys each and were taking care of their third one. Shinpachi smiled. He couldn't lose to them.

The fight lasted for a quarter of an hour. In the end, when the last body collapsed, they exchanged looks. Shinpachi had several bruises on his face, Gin's arm was covered with blood (but it was quite nothing), Hijikata was slightly limping. But as a whole, they were all fine and enemies dead. Until Hijikata pointed out:

"Oi, we got nine of them… Weren't they ten?"

As an answer, a muffled shout echoed behind them. They all turned round to see a man in grey next to Sougo and Kagura, holding his sword over them. A blade was going through his chest.

"Danna, Hijikata-san, Glasses… Could you be careful? We've got someone injured over there, I shouldn't be doing your work!"

He took his katana off the man. He had hit the very center of the heart without looking at him. Shocked, the eraser fell on his knees, then on the ground, and died watching his murderer who never gave him a glare.

"Zaki and the others should be on the inside. She should be able to guide us. Sougo, do you think you can carry her?"

Sougo smirked as he piggybacked Kagura.

"You kidding me? I might be strong, but that whale is going to destroy my backbone! With all the food she eats every day, I wouldn't be surprised if she weighted more than a ton!"

"No…"answered back a tiny voice on his back.

"Of course, you are aware I was jok-"

"No, I don't want to! I don't want to go back there! I don't want to go to this place again!"

She had gathered all the strength she could to struggle. She was writhing in Sougo's back, kicking the air, trying to push Sougo away from her. He noticed she was crying. Nicely, he put her back on the floor and trapped her gaze with his own.

"Gura, what exactly happened there? We know people still trapped in there. Do you understand? We have to go to save them. What have they done to you, what are they doing to them?"

She shook her head, dumb. Her eyes showed a deep panic. And then they saw _it_. She had been until know wearing a white hospital dress, stained with blood, with long sleeves and falling down to her feet. But when she had struggled, her body had appeared. Her arms, legs, neck were covered with bruises, scars, burns. Hers wrists had scars as if being cut many time, and so did her neck. Just how much did they hurt her, how deep, to stop her Yato healing thing?

She looked destroyed even morally. Having regained a bit of strength, she was able to keep her eyes opened – and kept glancing all around her. She was shaking; when she started to calm down, the sight of the dead bodies or of the hospital reminded her how scared she was. Sougo held her tightly, burying her face into his chest.

"Don't look anywhere but at me. Everything's fine. Danna, do you mind if she's not coming?"

Gin sighed.

"Have you seen how she looks whenever she sees that building? I might be a demon, but I'm not going to force her to experience again what happened in there. Take her away, far from here, so that she won't see this place anymore. And if… If we're not back in an hour, or if her state gets worse, just take Sadaharu with you and take her to the hospital. Got it?"

Sougo was standing up, carrying her in his arms. He nodded and walked opposite the hospital, humming the same song as before. Gin, Shinpachi and Hijikata watched them going away for a while, then tightened their grip over their swords and walked toward the entrance. Sadaharu sat in front of the door, ready to dash to Sougo if he was whistled.

The inside of the building was less guarded than what they thought. The ten guards they took care of should have been the majority of the defense. They only met four other people, whom they attacked by surprise. The corridors were dark, lightened by creepy neon tubes, and everything was full of dust: it was a horror movie setting. Everything was silent, when a scream surprised them: it was coming from downstairs.

A corridor, with a dozen of door on each side. Stainless mirrors allowed them to see inside the rooms. Small rooms, with almost thirty people on each. They looked scared, starving, their eyes were lifeless. They had that look Kagura had: scared by every sound and yet almost indifferent of their condition. Used to it.

The corridor was going on, with two bigger rooms, doors opened. Gin felt sick. In one of theme was only one piece of furniture, but he knew as soon as he saw it what it was: an electric chair. They were getting information from people by electrocuting them. No need to look further to know the origin of Kagura's burns.

The second room had on its center a bed, or more likely a metal table, with straps were wrists and ankles were supposed to be. A shelf, next to the table, was covered with scalpels and other blades, and with syringes filled with colorful liquids. This hospital was just a torture center.

Another stair was going upstairs. An old sign indicated "Administration". Gin looked at his two comrades.

"I'm going to check if I can find anything about who's behind this, and about memories loss. It might not be definitive."

Hijikata and Shinpachi nodded. Gin rushed toward the stairs.

Unconsciously, Hijikata was looking for Zaki's room. Every single life here was important, but Zaki meant a lot to him.

And then he saw him. On the corner of a crowded room, thinner than ever. While Shinpachi was taking care of another room, he destroyed the lock with his blade. When they heard that noise, people stood back as much as they could. They were scared.

He put his sword back at his belt, showing his empty hands.

"It's all right. We came to save you all. Can you all stand and walk?

Someone answered.

"Everyone but him", showing Zaki. "Since he's here, he barely ate anything. We didn't have much to eat from the beginning, but he always gave what he had to those starving. If a guard came to take it out on someone, he provoked him to be the only victim. He saved us. Our lives don't worth anything; if you want to save someone, save him!"

Zaki raised his empty eyes to Hijikata.

"Oh, hello, Vice-Commander. I'm sorry, I know you once told me not to be finicky, but… I decided I wouldn't eat anything but anpan."

Hijikata smiled and dived his hand to his pocket.

"Then you'll be happy to see what we bought you. And don't you dare giving it to anyone else: this is yours, and yours only."

They started to evacuate people, room after room, carrying those who couldn't walk. They were leaving them at the main door, protected by Sadaharu.

On his side, after visiting tons of empty rooms, Gin ended up by finding a strange room, with a huge computer taking almost half the room. On the screen, two pictures were showing up; Gin shivered: it was Okita and him. At the end of the room was a big dresser full of glass flasks, a round marble-looking thing on it. On the top shelf, a thick book was slowly being covered with dust. Gin stretched his arm and grabbed it.

"Cognitive eraser user's guide". Gin grinned. Who was stupid enough to let this kind of book here? They really trusted their security. Gin began by skimming through the book.

The apparel needed the "to-be-erased"'s DNA and the name of every single person whose memory had to be altered. It was a hand operated process, but the computer also checked through the internet any connection between this person and the others. With a system using waves, people's memories were modified to erase this person existence. The waves scanned all the area and everything that had the person's DNA was dematerialized. Memories and dematerialized objects were then converted into a particles flow locked in glass marbles by the computer.

It was quite complicated and Gin had troubles staying focused on some paragraphs, but what was sure was that, every single marble behind him, and even the two bigger on the table in front of him, were memories. He noticed cracks on some of the marbles: could they be the one of the persons people started to remember of?

He noticed a section _Reverse the process: when you made a mistake_.

He opened the book at that page. A really small paragraph was written.

_In case of mistake, of involuntary memory absorption, put the marble into the pipe on the left of the computer. A menu will show, asking if you want to delete the data or to restore it. Chose restore to free the memory and materialize the objects back to their place. The restoration will be fully effective within 24 hours._

Gin smile. He just understood that this computer was a creation of Gengai. That old geezer got better and better with his technological stuff in five years, but one thing remained: he never forgot that his creation could be used for bad purposes.

The samurai sighed. How many marbles were there exactly? Two hundreds? Three, maybe? A long evening was waiting for him. He knew Sougo would have left when he would be done, but that was better this way. Kagura's health first.

The two marbles on the table intrigued him. Why were they different? And it was hard not to make the connection between those two glass balls and the pictures on the screen. Did they traveled time because of the computer? It wasn't impossible.

Gin brought as many marbles as he could next to the computer. He was keeping the two specials for the end: if they had a link to his time travel, he wanted to be sure he could finish to bring everyone's memories back before disappearing.

One by one, he put the marbles in the pipe. Selected every time the restoration. His back was starting to hurt because he wasn't moving, a headache was coming up. Ironically, he thought that even if he drunk liters and liters of sake a full night nonstop, he wouldn't break his record of number of headache in two days.

Sun was setting when he took care of the last "normal" marble. He took the bigger ones, put the first one into the pipe.

_Okita-kun I hope you had time to save her… Or at least that your travel back to our time really takes 24 hours._

Of course, he wasn't sure the marble wasn't his.

_Restore?_

He pressed enter for each ball, and then went to sit against a wall, waiting to coming back to his time. Motionless, he fell asleep.

* * *

_Next week will be the last chapter ! Thank you for having supported me all this time ! Seriously, you are awesome!_


	5. Chapter 5

_It's finally here ! Yaaay ! This is the last chapter,the conclusion of this story, and I really hope you'll like it~_

_(by the way, any gamer over there? There was a nerdy reference in the previous chapter, can you find it ? :p)_

* * *

When Sougo woke up, he felt fingers playing with his hair. He slowly rose his head to see two sapphire eyes looking at him.

"You know, if you were tired, you should have asked for a bed instead of sleeping on mine."

He was in a hospital room, sitting on a chair on Kagura's bedside. He probably laid his head on the bed while staying by her side and fell asleep. Their fingers were intertwined.

"Gura? What…"

"Gin-chan saved everyone. I knew I could trust him! He managed to restore everyone's memory. People understood the government used them, and there had been a kind of riot… The Amanto government has been deposed, we know have a provisional government, and it's highly possible that the Shogun will be back."

"Just how long did I sleep, to miss so many things?"

"Three days. I pity your back, you didn't move at all all this time. When doctors were trying to move you, you were moaning "I'm the police, leave me alone" or "Do you really want to go to jail?"."

She smiled softly as she messed his hair.

"You were taking care of me when Hijikata and Shinpachi came with the prisoners. Gin-chan wasn't coming back, so you put the weaker ones, including me, on Sadaharu and we walked to the town. We could have phoned to have some help, but, seriously, I didn't know how I could trust or not. Everyone forgot me, after all. Well, everyone but you and Gin-chan, of course. I think I owe him forever. While you were leaving with us, he brought all the memories back. He woke up a bit later and told me he had been wrong on something. He thought the computer made you travel in time, but truth is your memory had been erased… Five years of memories. They wanted to try the new features of the computer, and since you were both strong (and both going to look after me), you were perfect targets. And he just cancelled all of that! He has been found unconscious in the building. The Amanto behind everything fled far away in the space, but I think they won't dare coming back. Ah, what would have I done without Gin-chan?"

She sighed, daydreaming. Sougo pouted and looked away. Kagura burst out laughing.

"What's with that jealous face? Just kidding, Sougo! Even if Gin-chan saved us, the glory must be shared with Shinpachi, Hijikata, and mostly with you. I barely spent two days in there, but even in such a short time lapse, I thought I was becoming crazy. They noticed my body was stronger than the other's: I became their guinea pig. The only thing I held on to, the only thing that kept me lucid, was the idea of seeing you again. I knew you wouldn't forget me. I knew that, wherever you were, you would come and save me. You are my true hero.

A throat clearing was heard from the other side of the curtain splitting the room in two.

Gin-chan, you also are my hero, don't you worry!

Another throat clearing.

"And you, Shinpachi, you are… Nice glasses?"

"KAGURA-CHAN! I have been cool all this fanfiction, so don't reduce me to my glasses!"

"And there it is! The fourth wall is broken! It's been a while!"

Sougo withdrew the curtain. Behind it, Gin, lying on a bed, his arm wrapped in bandages, and Shinpachi, sitting on a chair with a book on his knees, were laughing. With everything that had happened, they probably thought they wouldn't be able to be together again, the three of them. Sougo felt like he was on the way.

"Where's Hijikata?"

"With Yamazaki. They're both fine, added Kagura when she saw how worried Sougo was. Jimmy asked Anpan drips, so I guess he's back to normal."

"I should probably…"

Sougo got up. He felt like if he was the fifth wheel. Or, in that case, the fourth wheel of a tricycle. But Kagura's grip tightened, preventing him from letting go of her hand.

"Sougo. Stay, please."

He sat down and smiled to her in a relaxing way. As soon as he had started to leave, she had looked at him with a scared look and had begun to shiver.

Sougo bit his lower lip. He was facing an inner dilemma.

"It's okay, I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying here with you. I will be by you side, forever. You just saw it: they tried to erase my memory, tried to turn me into the kid that couldn't stand you… But, still, whatever they tried, I didn't forget. The one there to comfort you, the one there to save you, it wasn't that 19 year-old brat trying to understand what was going on. I was prompting him what to say, guiding his moves. I never forgot anything, Kagura. And I never will. Whatever they try to tear us apart, they will never succeed. I will always find you.

Kagura's eyes were filled with tears, but she looked relaxed. Her cheeks were blushing. Behind, Gin was smiling while Shinpachi was already scarlet.

Sougo dived his hand into his pocket. His dilemma was solved. It might not be the right moment, but he didn't care. He did as his instinct told him.

On his clenched fist, the small object found in the dresser.

"Danna, I think I might have lied to you. How long does it take to move on from a kid's promise?"

Gin already understood what he meant.

"Let's say that something you said when you were five years younger is null and void…"

Sougo shown a bright smile. He took Kagura's hand and put the tiny thing in her palm. She opened her eyes wide, breathtaken.

"I should have made a more romantic proposal, but I think a hospital, at the end of a dangerous fight, fits us better than a candlelight dinner… Kagura Yato, would you give me the honour of staying by my side forever and ever after, by being mine?"

Kagura was scarlet. She was staring at the ring, a simple ring, with a small blue precious stone glittering, on her hand.

"That ring is…"

"It was my mother's, then my sister's. It's time to break the curse by living together for decades and decades."

"Wait a minute!" Shouted Shinpachi. "Isn't that a bit early? I'm usually useless, so I'll take advantage of the fact the author allows me to talk to object! We suddenly discover you are dating, while we were all thinking you hated each other, and we barely have time to assimilate that you're telling us you're getting married?! She's only 19, she's still young!"

Kagura gave him a deadly glare.

"Shaddup, glasses. It's not because you're only finding out about us now that the three years we've been dating should be forgotten! Even Gin-chan got it when I was telling him I was sleeping at a friend's. And about you…"

She looked at Sougo, ignoring Shinpachi who was repeating, shocked "three years…. three… years…", and her look went softer.

"Moron, I'm already yours since a long time ago!" She said, grabbing him by the collar to lock her lips on his. On her left hand was shining a blue sapphire.

* * *

**Omake**

Shinpachi : _Seriously ? Did the author thought a romantic ending would cover all the holes of this plot?__  
_

Kagura :_ Shaddup, Four eyes. I still agree something is wrong, though. AS IF SOMETHING COULD HAPPEN BETWEEN THAT SADIST AND ME, THE QUEEN OF KABUKICHOU !_

Shinpachi :_ I wasn't really talking about that, you know.._

Gin :_ Hey, y'know what ? That's just an open end ! There's no hole, it's just that the reader's got to find the answer by himself!_

Shinpachi :_ JUST HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK THEY ARE?!_

_..._

_..._

Kondo :_ Why neither I nor my name appeared even once? Even Zaki had an appearance..._

_(truth is he has been erased too, but when Gin found his ball (okay that sounds REALLY weird xD) he just broke it)_

* * *

_Thank you for your support over those 5 weeks ! Really, every time I got a review, a follower, every time someone saved this fic as a favourite, I felt really happy. So happy I could cry (truth is I'm too emotional xD)_

_Thanks again guys, I love you all ! See you maybe in two weeks for another oneshot!_


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